Dollar regains its footing after two-day decline, Fedspeak awaited

Here is what you need to know on Friday, November 19:

The dollar struggled to find demand on Thursday and the US Dollar Index (DXY) closed the second straight day in the negative territory. With US Treasury bond yields sharking off the bearish pressure, however, the DXY seems to have steadied above 95.50 on Friday. Investors await October Retail Sales data from the UK, German PPI report, speeches by European Central Bank President (ECB) Christine Lagarde, Fed Governor Waller and Fed Vice Chair Clarida.

Wall Street’s main indexes closed mixed on Thursday amid varying performances of major sectors but US stock futures are trading in the green in the early European session.  The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield, which fell to a daily low of 1.57% on Thursday, is currently moving sideways near 1.6%.

The data from the US showed that the weekly Initial Jobless Claims edged lower to 268,000 and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index improved sharply to 39 in November. Market participants showed little to no reaction to these figures. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said that the Fed could start hiking the policy rate in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) lowered its policy rate by 100 basis points and USD/TRY surged to a new all-time high of 11.2925. As of writing, the pair was trading around 11.1000 and rising more than 10% on a weekly basis.

EUR/USD extended its rebound toward 1.1400 on Thursday but lost its bullish momentum ahead of the weekend. Currently, the pair is moving sideways around mid-1.1300s. 

GBP/USD is having a difficult time making a decisive move in either direction and treading water around 1.3500. EU and UK Brexit negotiators are expected to meet in Brussels later in the day. Retail Sales in the UK are forecast to rise by 0.5% in October after contracting by 0.2% in September.

USD/JPY stays in a consolidation phase above 114.00 following Wednesday’s sharp fall. The data from Japan revealed that the National Consumer Price Index was up 0.1% on a yearly basis in October, below the market expectation of 0.5%.

Gold continues to fluctuate below the multi-month high it set at $1,877 earlier in the week. Near-term support seems to have formed around $1,860.

USD/CAD reversed its direction after climbing to its strongest level in more than a month near 1.2650. The recovery witnessed in crude oil prices seems to be helping the commodity-loonie stay resilient against its American counterpart.

Cryptocurrencies:  Buyers failed to reclaim $60,000 and Bitcoin fell to its weakest level since mid-October at $56,500. On a weekly basis, BTC/USD is down nearly 14%. Ethereum lost nearly 7% on Thursday but seems to have encountered support at $4,000.